Authoritarian Politics in Unincorporated Society: The Case of Nasser's Egypt

Abstract

Contemporary Egypt provides evidence against, and induces modifications of, a widely accepted proposition concerning modernization. This proposition suggests that modernization, in the sense of social mobilization, tends to undermine authoritarian government by engendering powerful groups that the system cannot absorb without changing to a pluralist or totalitarian form of rule. Before turning to the case of Egypt, let us discuss the proposition.